Tonight: Mariss Jansons/Yefim Bronfman/Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Barbican

[alison]

I shall have a spare, bottom-price, front-row balcony ticket going for this concert tonight at the Barbican, starting time 7.30.  The balcony is sold out, which I think accounts for all the inexpensive seats, so if you (Ruth?) know anyone who wanted to go but couldn't afford the more expensive seats do let them know.  The blurb from the Barbican:

 

"War and Peace: Mariss Jansons and his Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra bring their peerless sound to bear on Beethoven and Prokofiev.

 

Beethoven pianist par excellence Yefim Bronfman explores the secrets of Beethoven’s surprisingly gentle Fourth Concerto, before Jansons and his Bavarian players unleash Prokofiev’s [5th] wartime ‘symphony of the greatness of the human spirit’. With Jansons and the BRSO, it’ll glow from within.

 

And after all, it hardly needs re-stating: Jansons’ partnership with the BRSO is amongst the most rewarding conductor-orchestra pairings of our time. But you don’t need to have heard them before to respond to this powerful programme: a concerto of pure poetry and a symphony of iron and steel, performed by artists who make each note say something meaningful."

 

If anyone is interested, please ring or text me on  , as I'm just going out.  Otherwise I'll see if anyone wants it when I get there.

[bangorballetboy]

I believe Jansons will be presented with the RPS Gold Medal at this concert.

[alison]

Oh, I thought they'd already done that.  (Mentally adds a bit longer to the running time).

[RuthE]

Sorry I didn't see this until just now.

 

I was meant to be at Joyce DiDonato's masterclass at the Wigmore Hall which got cancelled because of the incident at Oxford Circus.  I actually briefly considered going to the Barbican for this instead, but am not best disposed towards Mariss Jansons at present because of his remarks about women conductors, so I opted for a night at home in front of the TV!

[alison]

" I grew up in a different world, and for me seeing a woman on the podium… well, let’s just say it’s not my cup of tea."

 

I suppose one has to expect subeditors these days to pick on the most controversial bits of an interview to highlight, even if it's less than a tenth of the whole thing   Fortunately, not being on social media, I was totally unaware of any controversy anyway.  And I'm thankful I went, because it was a superlative concert even by Jansons standards.

 

Really sorry about the DiDonato, though